Over the past couple of weeks, meteorologists and entomologists have confirmed that massive swarms of Spotted Lanternflies (SLF) were so dense they appeared on weather radar systems across the Mid-Atlantic region of the USA - including Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia.

These radar anomalies resembled stormfronts, despite no precipitation being forecast. The reason? It’s because radar beams are going out and there are so many bugs that they’re all bouncing back to the radar site, and the radar is picking up there’s something in the atmosphere, usually rain or snow.

The insects, on KVH’s Kiwifruit’s Most Unwanted list, were even reported by a traveller hoping to catch a flight to Boston who took to social media to complain that they were “everywhere and crawling on luggage” at Washington’s international airport.

Native to Asia, SLF has invaded North America, where its numbers have grown rapidly. It is thought to have entered as egg masses on landscaping stone from China and eradication attempts have been unsuccessful. The impacts of SLF have been described as worse than Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB).

Read more about how to identify SLF and its egg masses on the KVH website.

Image and article credit: Smithsonian magazine, 16 September 2025.